Chrome for Android makes offline mode smarter

The addition of the offline mode goes a step further by allowing users to save web pages, videos and documents within the app when they are on a Wi-Fi network or have steady mobile broadband connection.

The number of smartphone apps offering offline mode has gone up in the last few months. It is not just the video and music streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple Music which have embraced this.

The Chrome web browser for Android already offers data saver mode which compresses webpages to open up pages faster and reduce data consumption. The addition of the offline mode goes a step further by allowing users to save web pages, videos and documents within the app when they are on a Wi-Fi network or have steady mobile broadband connection.

You can access the saved content in the “download” section.

How to save a webpage

To save a webpage/story on Chrome, tap on the menu icon at the top. Now tap on the down-facing arrow icon and the web page will be saved in Chrome. You can access the saved content in the “download” section which can be found as you scroll down the menu page.

How to download webpages without opening them

This cool new addition will save users the exercise of opening a webpage to download it. If a story has a catchy headline and you want to save it, just tap and long press on the article link and a pop-up window will open with the option to download it. Select the option and the article will be saved in the download page.

If your internet connection is disrupted, just tap on the link and you will be redirected to a blank web page with the option to download the webpage later.

How to download page when offline

If you are in the middle of browsing a website and your internet connection is disrupted, just tap on the link and you will be redirected to a blank web page with the option to download the webpage later. The webpage will be set aside and downloaded automatically when the connection is available.

The third new feature in the offline mode is the full-fledged menu for downloaded content.

Smart layout

The third new feature in the offline mode is the full-fledged menu for downloaded content. It looks similar to a file manager app. It shows the space on the device along with the size of the downloaded content. What makes it really handy is the fact that it clubs your saved articles, videos, audio, images and even documents separately. This makes searching for content a lot easier. To access it, tap on the menu icon, open the download page and swipe left to right on it.